Finding 30126 (2022-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2022-10-20

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College failed to report changes in student enrollment status to the NSLDS within the required 60 days.
  • Impacted Requirements: Timely reporting is essential for calculating students' grace and repayment periods as per federal regulations.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The College should enhance monitoring and implement procedures to ensure timely reporting of all enrollment status changes.

Finding Text

Student Financial Assistance Cluster, Assistance Listing #84.268 ? Federal Direct Student Loans, Assistance Listing #84.063 ? Federal Pell Grant Program, U.S. Department of Education 2022-001 Criteria of specific requirement ? Special Tests and Provisions ? Enrollment Reporting Condition ? Changes in enrollment to less than half time, graduated or withdrawn students must be reported within 30 days or a complete roster file is to be submitted every 60 days as described in the School eligibility and operations sections of the Federal Student Aid Handbook. The College did not submit student?s current enrollment status to the National Student Loan Data Services (NSLDS) within 60 days. Questioned costs ? None. Context ? Out of a population of 1,865 students who received federal student financial aid in the form of Federal Direct Student Loans and withdrew (partial or full) or graduated during the academic year, a sample of 40 students was selected for testing. Out of the 40 students tested, 14 students? change of enrollment status was not submitted to the NSLDS in a timely matter. Our sample was not and was not intended to be statistically valid. Effect ? The NSLDS was not provided with timely submission of enrollment status changes for students who withdrew (partial or full) or graduated during the fiscal year. Such submissions are required to allow for proper calculation of the students allowed grace and repayment period. Cause ? The student enrollment status changes that were not reported timely related to the College?s internal control procedures in place for identifying and reporting students in ample time to the third-party servicer who reports to the NSLDS. Identification as a repeat finding ? N/A Recommendation ? The College should monitor its compliance with federal regulations and should implement procedures to report all statuses of students to ensure enrollment status changes are reported to the NSLDS in a timely matter. We also recommend the College review a sample of students to verify that the students have been reported to the NSLDS.

Corrective Action Plan

Action Plan for Graduate and Enrollment Reporting Audit Finding 2022-001 Issue ? Graduate reporting is completed by submitting a DEGREE VERIFY file and a GRAD ONLY file to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). For spring 2022, the Technology Specialist sent a DEGREE VERIFY file to the NSC on 6/23/22 but did not include a GRAD ONLY file with that submission. This caused an issue with graduates being reported in a timely manner. Also, some students? enrollment status was not submitted to the NSC in a timely manner, to be compliant with the 60-day requirement for reporting to NSLDS. Action Plan 1? From this time forward, all graduate submissions (DEGREE VERIFY and GRAD ONLY files) to the NSC will be completed within two weeks following final grades being due. This will allow time for the NSC to submit to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Within 2-3 business days, the NSC sends an email confirmation to the Technology Specialist and Registrar stating that a degree file has been processed (see below). In addition, the Technology Specialist and the Registrar will attend training provided by the National Student Clearinghouse when it is available, to stay abreast of any regulatory changes or processing changes. Action Plan 2? The Technology Specialist submits Enrollment Reporting files to the NSC, once per month, per the NSC?s schedule. Once rosters are submitted, an email is then sent to the Technology Specialist and the Registrar confirming submission. Once this email is received, both the Technology Specialist and the Registrar will log into the NSC to verify the submission. If errors are reported with the submission, both will then log into the NSC, go to the NSLDS reporting tab to identify errors and correct each record within 10 days to ensure timely reporting. Action Plan 3? To further ensure compliance, the Office of Financial Aid and Veteran Services will run the NSLDS SCHER1 (NSLDS Enrollment Summary Report) monthly and send it to the Technology Specialist and the Registrar so they can identify any errors that were reported by NSLDS for each submission. In addition, the Technology Specialist and the Registrar will attend training provided by the National Student Clearinghouse when it is available, to stay abreast of any regulatory changes or processing changes.

Categories

Student Financial Aid Special Tests & Provisions Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties Eligibility Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 30127 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 30128 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 30129 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 606568 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 606569 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 606570 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 606571 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $6.11M
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $2.09M
84.268 Unsubsidized Direct Loan $1.06M
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $598,247
84.268 Direct Plus $421,127
84.011 Migrant Education_state Grant Program $350,624
84.042 Trio_student Support Services $309,540
20.205 Highway Planning and Construction $295,153
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $251,403
47.076 Education and Human Resources $243,791
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $190,704
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $162,440
84.002 Adult Education - Basic Grants to States $127,645
93.575 Child Care and Development Block Grant $63,137
84.335 Child Care Access Means Parents in School $48,654
17.268 H-1b Job Training Grants $38,067
10.558 Child and Adult Care Food Program $30,815
17.259 Wia Youth Activities $17,839
47.074 Biological Sciences $15,657
84.015 National Resource Centers Program for Foreign Language and Area Studies Or Foreign Language and International Studies Program and Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program $6,642
10.310 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (afri) $4,262